University of Richmond Athletics
California Trip Blog!
08/06/2015 | Women's Soccer
RICHMOND SPIDERS CALIFORNIA TRIP BLOG
Day Eight - Thursday, August 13(The trip home)
Lexi Prillaman - The 5:15 a.m. alarm was bittersweet as the day we all dreaded finally approached. Our trip sadly ended just as quickly as it began. All of the late night laughs shared, the delicious meals, the van rides, and loads of laundry had somehow brought us all together as a real team. After a difficult goodbye from the Podmajersky's home, we piled into the bus and headed to LAX. Once we got thru security, the entire team jumped in line at Starbucks; an essential stop before boarding our five-hour flight to Atlanta. We gave the barista a run for her money ordering almost every drink you could imagine. The plane ride was smooth and easy (that is until we almost plummeted to our deaths in the closing minutes of our flight. Drum would agree that lighting struck our plane once again). We read, slept, and resembled a pack of wolves at feeding time when the flight attendant approached our seats with a large box of airplane snacks. We grabbed enough to pass as a small meal, but hey does that really surprise you? After a four-hour layover which seemed to take an eternity in Atlanta, we boarded our flight to Richmond to end our day of travels. I think we would all agree that we've truly been blessed to be apart of such an unforgettable preseason and are extremely excited to be back in Richmond to show off our bronze skin!! More than anything, we're ready to start our season in just a few short days!
Kate Smith - Today we said goodbye to California and embarked on our long journey back to richmond. We woke up at 5:30 a.m., got dressed in our travel outfits, featuring the controversial three-quarter pants, and did our best to pack up and clean the Podmajersky's house before loading onto the bus for the airport. Outside we all gave Mrs. Podmajersky big hugs and were all so grateful for how generous the Podmajerskys were to let 30 girls stay in their house for so long. Darian's dog Nicki, as well as a few other neighborhood dogs were outside to send us off as we left. When we got to the airport we made it through security and immediately ambushed the first Starbucks that we saw. It threw some of us off that this particular Starbucks had ran out of venti sized drinks, but we all made it through the morning anyway and boarded our first flight to Atlanta without a problem. In Atlanta, we had a four-hour layover, so obviously there was a lot of eating going on during this time, as well as a second Starbucks run for some of us. We finally got on the second plane around 9:30 p.m. and landed in Richmond around 11:30 p.m.. Then we took our last bus ride of the trip back to school. WOOOOOO! Go Spiders, go Richmond, go Cali, go preseason and go us, yay!
Dana Bernetich - Today was a sad day. Right when we woke up, we loaded our bags onto the bus and waved goodbye to the Golden State. We spent our last few moments on the Podmajersky's driveway thanking them and their neighbors that live next door for the tremendous amount of hospitality they have shown us all week. After a long, long traffic filled ride to LAX (LA during rush hour is no bueno) we checked our bags and went through security. Right as we passed through security, the first thing I saw was a Starbucks that was calling my name! (It was probably around 7:30 a.m. and I needed my coffee!) I soon found out that they didn't have venti size cups (bummer!) so I ordered a grande and told the barista my name. When I went to grab my drink, I noticed the drink that should have been mine had the name "Tyler" written on it. Starbucks is always a good laugh for name misspellings but this was one of the worst I've seen! After finishing my vanilla iced coffee, we boarded the plane and we were off to Atlanta. The flight was pretty standard except for a little turbulence where I got a little nervous that we weren't going to make it! But thankfully, we made it safe and sound, and now we are waiting for our next flight to Richmond! We played a few card games to pass the four-hour layover, which was pretty fun! But they literally just announced over the loud speaker that the flight has been delayed for 20 minutes, which is unfortunate, but we will be back home soon enough! Sitting in the airport gives me time to think about how amazing this trip was and I think I speak for the entire team when I say we are all so thankful for everyone who made this trip possible! Special shout out to the Podmajerskys and the Mottrams! As well as everyone else who made this wonderful trip possible! It was such a great week!!!
Day Seven - Wednesday, August 12
(Final full day in California)
Jessica Stanfill - Today marked the end of an unforgettable trip in California. A 7:30 a.m. wake-up allowed for three more hours of much appreciated sleep (only during preseason can you find 30 college students excited about getting to sleep until 7:30).
We had a light session in the morning to get our legs back underneath us as we prepared to finish out our stay in Cali at our best. Post-practice time consisted of Starbucks, film review, and a pregame meal before our last scrimmage here in California.
When we started this trip, we (the freshman) were all obviously new to everything: being away from home, the town, the people. And though we'll no doubt be unmistakably green when it comes to most that Richmond has in store for us, I think we can all agree that the transition will be a little easier with such a great new team to share the experience with. California was certainly a great step in the right direction for our team!
Day Six - Tuesday, August 11
(Scrimmage Day)
Simron Richard - Today was another awesome day in California! Unlike most other days we got to sleep in until 7:30 a.m., which was very exciting! We ate a nutritious breakfast to help us prepare for our trip to UC Irvine; the weather was beautiful as always in California with low humidity and a cool breeze. After our scrimmage, we went directly to a humongous mall called Fashion Island where we had a great time eating and shopping for a couple hours.
Afterwards, we went back to the Podmajersky's house where we relaxed, ate together and enjoyed one of the last couple nights in California with more team bonding before making our way back to Richmond! Overall it was yet another awesome day filled with exciting soccer and more unforgettable team bonding memories.
Lindsay Egbers - So where to start... Today we got to sleep in!!! Until 7:30 a.m.... Man, never thought I'd ever say 7:30 a.m. is sleeping in, but when 4:30 a.m. is the alternative, it's pretty dang glorious. I slept like a queen on my air mattress featuring Maeve and our nightly battle of blanket tug-of-war.
We had our first scrimmage today!!! It was really exciting finally getting to put all our hard work of practices, fitness tests, and all our summer preparations to the test! A.k.a.: US #rollspides
We had a fabulous van ride with the endless fight to make one of the first two rows. Unless you're Drum or Key and you just know your place in life... A.k.a. back row middle on the hump. That row is a coveted spot as it now acts as a motion simulator so you're basically on a ride back there, best part is when your head slams into the ceiling at every red light, stop sign, acceleration or deceleration.
So after jamming to our trip playlist my personal favorite being "Slow Motion" by Trey Songz. (YouTube it for sure.) Something about that song and 5:30 a.m. is just the perfect combination of joy.
We hit the field, had a great warm up nailing our in sync hand claps and pregame pump up cheers by the one and only Emizzle K. There's something oddly intimidating yet motivating about her screaming in everyone's faces, I love it.
It was a great game as we persevered and battled to the 90th minute! Spider soccer got better today and we had so much fun doing it!!
After the game, we went to the mall and were allowed to shop around. For most of us, that involved going into the animal store and looking at the cutest puppies known to man and trying to figure out what we'd need to do to get Coach to drop the big bucks a team pup. We'd name him Dumbledore, of course.
Then we went back to the Podmajersky's, ate delishhhh gourmet pizza (of course, only the best in the Podmajersky household!) watched a little Devil Wear's Prada (Stanley Tucci is my absolute favorite), then had a team meeting and are back in bed for our next big game tomorrow!
Thanks for tuning in!! GO SPIDERS!!!
Anna Hakkenberg - This morning we got to sleep in until 7:30 a.m.! Most of us woke up before then because we were so used to getting up three hours earlier. It still felt really nice to just lay in bed until it was time to get up or just relax around the house until we left for our scrimmage.
Our scrimmage went really well today and we got better as a team during the course of the game.
After our scrimmage, we all loaded into the vans and headed to Fashion Island. A big group of people went to Starbucks and then we all split up into smaller groups of four to get lunch. Once we were full to our hearts content, we walked around the mall and visited a handful of different stores. One of the highlights of the trip to the mall was the pet store that featured a lot of adorable puppies and kittens. We tried to convince coach to let us bring one home, but to no avail.
After we left the mall, we came back to Darian's house and ordered pizza. It was a really great day, but we are definitely sad the end of our trip is quickly approaching.
Melanie Lippert - We started today off well with breakfast at the Podmajersky's. We were able to sleep in for a few hours today and woke up at 7:30 a.m. After we ate a good breakfast, we got ready and headed to UC Irvine!
Once the game concluded we went to the locker rooms to shower off and then headed to the mall for some much needed shopping. We grabbed lunch there and then shopped around for a few hours. Many of us stopped into Dick's Sporting Goods to get some headbands, shorts, socks, etc.
When we got back to the house we spent the next hour or so watching the movie, "The Devil Wears Prada." We then got pizza for dinner. After the pizza, we took contrast baths to help with recovery, had a meeting with the coaches, and called it a day. Thank you to the coaches and the Podmajerskys for another great day in California. It's bitter sweet knowing tomorrow will be our last day here!
Day Five - Monday, August 10
(Training for final days of trip)
Ellie Sullivan - We started the morning well rested after an off day and headed to our new training venue at Cal State Fullerton, home of the Titans. The rest of the day was pretty low key, as most of us took at least two naps. We had a light pregame training session topped off with some juggling jamboree to get our legs ready to play tomorrow. To top off the night we crushed Mrs. Podmajerksy's take on Chipotle guacamole, and I think she gave them a real run for their money. Finally, to complete the day, we celebrated Jess' birthday with a rainbow butterfly cake, I don't really know how else you say happy birthday in California. Thank you so much to the Podmajersky and Mottram families for opening your homes to all of us and making this a great trip! I've already told my mom that I might not be coming back from California as I've already been looking at real estate in the area.
Ella Stout - Today we woke up at 4:30am... again! After a quality practice we went back to the Podmajerksy's and we all snacked and ate yummy sandwiches for lunch. After we all took about four hours worth of naps, we woke up and snacked again to get ready for practice. We drove back from practice freshly showered and proceeded to eat as much pasta, chicken and ribs as we possibly could. Later we celebrated Jess's birthday with a giant cake and we rejoiced because we get to sleep in until 7 a.m. tomorrow!
Katie Brennan - Today was a great day. We woke up at 4:30 a.m. for the last of our early morning practices. We had a successful practice at Fullerton on the grass field and then we went back to Darian's. To help our bodies recover, we took contrast baths in the pool and hot tub. We didn't practice again until 4:30 p.m. so we had plenty of time to eat, sleep and relax. At four, we left Darian's and went back to Fullerton to have a pre-game practice. At the end of practice, we did a 10-minute relaxation led by Mika and then headed back to Darian's for a fun night. Some parents are here in California and they came to Darian's for a catered dinner which was awesome! It's Jess's birthday so there was a big cake, which led to an icing fight between Emily, Jess and Darian. The best part of tonight is knowing that tomorrow we get to sleep in until 7:30 a.m. for a scrimmage!
Day Four - Sunday, August 9
(Beach Day, Day Off from training)
Hannah Cornman - Today was the day we all had been anxiously awaiting - rest day! We all slept in and ate a big brunch prepared by the Mottrams. Then we loaded into the vans and headed to Hermosa Beach for a couple of hours! We soaked up the sun, played in the water, took lots of pictures, and some bought touristy t-shirts! After the beach, we traveled back to Yorba Linda and then to downtown Disney for dinner at the house of blues. At our table, almost everyone got the salmon and it was delicious! The highlight of dinner was a performer on the patio with us who played all our song requests as we danced along. He even sang happy birthday to Jess! (Her birthday isn't until the 10th, but it was her birthday in east coast time.) Finally, we made it home in time for a good night sleep ready to train again in the morning! It was a great day of rest and fun!
Alexis Pringle - There's nothing better than hearing that you can sleep in until 10 a.m. when you have been waking up at 4:45! It was the perfect start to the first day off during pre season. With people waking up at various hours in the morning a handful of us gathered in the Mottram's beautiful back yard for some morning reading. Once everyone was up and the coaches had arrived, we had the most delicious brunch consisting of eggs, bacon and sausage, hash browns, yogurt and so much more!
Once we had stuffed our faces full we headed off the to beach to catch some rays! The weather was perfect and it was great team bonding! The best part of the day was definitely dinner at the House of Blues in downtown Disney! The food was delicious and we got to sing along to the outdoor entertainment! (Personally I believe we are just as good at singing as we are at soccer, but hey, that's just me.)
A huge thanks to Nik and her family for opening up there gorgeous home to us and thank you to the coaches for dinner!
Bailey Cristian - Today was our first day off since we arrived in California, and it was well deserved. The coaches were gracious enough to allow us to sleep in and slowly work our way up to the afternoon activities planned for us. Most spent the morning relaxing and reading as the sun rose. The Mottrams cooked up a delectable brunch and then we all headed to Hermosa Beach, where we spent the day. After our fun in the sun, we headed back to the Mottram's to pack up, shower, and give our last thank-yous to Nichola's family. We then went back to Darian's house where we got dressed nicely in record time and made our way to Downtown Disney for dinner at the House of Blues. There, we enjoyed a delicious dinner accompanied by music, laughter, and dancing. As we were leaving, we saw from a distance the nightly firework display provided by the park, creating the perfect ending to our awesome, eventful day.
Katie Sanders - Today was our first day off of soccer since reporting back to school for preseason. We started off the day with a great brunch at the Mottram's and then headed over to the beach. The weather has been amazing and the team had a great time lounging around the beach and exploring the area. We ended our day with a team dinner in Downtown Disney and celebrated Jess' birthday. We're ready for one more day of double practices before our first scrimmages in California!
Day Three - Saturday, August 8
(Relocate to Nichola Mottram's house in Rancho Palos Verdes)
Lindsey Williams - Hey, Spider fans! Another 6 a.m. start for the team this morning and despite the anticipated exhaustion, we were ready super early and had a sharp training. (Also, since we were ready early, we get to sleep in tomorrow morning - yay!) Right after training we made a very much needed stop at Starbucks then headed to Nichola's BEAUTIFUL home! I mean really nice, with an amazing view over the Pacific Ocean. We were treated to a tasty lunch at the Mottram's house and then everyone found their own place to crash in the house, so that we would have energy for the afternoon practice. During the second practice today, at Nic's old high school, we had our first intersquad scrimmage! Everyone played amazing and the end results were very promising. Even though everyone was exhausted, we decided to make a detour on the way home to take pictures at a beautiful cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We arrived home to an amazing taco dinner in the backyard of Nic's house. After dinner we all showered and enjoyed a slumber party/movie night in the Mottram's backyard with a blow-up big screen TV. After all of today's hard-work and team bonding, everyone is closer than ever and excited for the season to come! Can't wait for our day-off/beach day tomorrow!!
Meaghan Carrigan - Alarm clocks sounded at 4:30 a.m. in the Podmajersky house this morning. Although we beat the sun up again, everyone was excited to get back to the field and play. We arrived at Chapman University for our third session in Cali at 6 a.m. We worked on some possession, pattern play and defensive set pieces. After the intense session, we made a pit stop at Starbucks to fuel up on caffeine before we headed to Nic's house for the night. Jaws were dropping as we cruised up a massive hill to Ranchos Palos Verde, the view of the ocean was incredible. We trained at Rancho Palos Verde High where Nic went to high school and had an intense intrasquad scrimmage. The game was competitive and we were all really excited about the level of play and team cohesion that was exhibited throughout the scrimmage. We headed back to Nic's for dinner where The Taco Man was already cooking up some delicious tacos in the backyard but not before we stopped on the side of the road to take pictures on the cliffs. As coach was taking a group photo, I was sure he was going to tumble over the cliff and into the Pacific... thankfully, he didn't. We ended a wonderful day watching the sun set over the ocean from Nic's backyard. Did I mention how beautiful California is??
Mackenzie Cox - Our second full day in California started with a 4:30 a.m. wake up and a very intense practice. After, we traveled to Nichola's house in Rancho Palos Verdes, where we had our second session, which included an intersquad scrimmage. It was competitive, but fun. Then, we came back, ate tacos (the chicken tacos were my favorite), watched a movie ("Get Smart"), and ate s'mores!
Nichola Mottram - Today, I was excited. After our morning practice, we were heading out to my house in the South Bay of California. My excitement only grew when I began to recognize the streets, the buildings, everything. I was almost home and I got to share my home with my closest friends. I came home to my loving family, my hyper dog, and everything one could ever imagine for a massive sleepover. First, before we could begin the sleepover, we had our afternoon practice, an inter squad game, at my high school. It was an incredible, high-intensity match up that tested our summer training and all the hard work we have put in. After such a match, only one person could satisfy our hunger... the Taco Man. He, to me, will always be known as "The Taco Man". I know him by no other name. My old club team would always have the Taco Man cater any get-togethers we had at my old coach's house. He has been stuck with us every since. The Taco Man went above and beyond... not only did he cook the meat on site, he gave you multiple options, with a substantial amount of sides and dressings for the tacos. It was the perfect dinner. Before we enjoyed the heaven-on-earth food that only the Taco Man could provide, we took team pictures by the cliffs that overlook the ocean. While having a heart attack whenever someone stepped near the edge, we still managed to take some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. I have been particularly lucky to live where I do and I am just happy that I get to share that experience with my teammates.
After the Taco Man left, my dad and I started setting up the movie screen. We set up a massive inflatable movie screen in the backyard. We watched "Get Smart." It was such a relaxed night... something we all needed, with no worry of waking up before dawn. What made it even better were the s'mores. I had a great night guys, and I can't wait for the beach tomorrow!!
Day Two - Friday, August 7
(First full day in California)
Emily Kelly - Today was pretty great for our first full day in Cali! We had two energetic, sharp practices one at 6 a.m. and another one at 3 p.m. After our second session myself and a few other players had the opportunity to chat and answer questions with some younger local soccer players. It was awesome that to answer many of the questions we had to really reflect on our time at Richmond, both academically and athletically. Once we finished up with soccer stuff, we had dinner at our teams favorite place, Chipotle!! Before heading to get a good nights rest, we took advantage of the beautiful view from Darian's deck and had some quality team bonding. First day in Cali was a success!
Keaira Clark - The time between taking off from Richmond on Thursday and finishing our last practice session on Friday seems much more than 24 hours. We successfully had two intense practices, ate, showered and somehow got eight hours of sleep! On top of all of that, I laughed so hard that I probably prolonged the soreness of my abs to an extra week. Honestly, the hardest part of the week is riding in the van and trying not to get hit my head on the window. The best part other than the soccer, the amazingly nice weather and the nice people was the stops at Starbucks and Chipotle. Overall it was an amazing day.
Maeve Holland - Today in sunny Cali we had a had a very productive morning session. The weather was perfect, low humidity and cloudy. After a delicious lunch at Darian's beautiful house, the team took a power nap before returning to Chapman to train in the afternoon. We had a laugh-filled dinner at Chipotle before returning back to our host house for contrast baths and a much needed night sleep, ready to begin again tomorrow!
Olivia Aha - Our first full day in California was amazing. The weather was perfect- nothing like the scorching heat and the oppressive humidity in Richmond. We got up early for our first session and it was a lot of fun to get back on the field after a long day of traveling. After practice, we were happy to stop at Starbucks on the way back to the Podmajersky's house. Later on we had a great second session of soccer. My favorite part of the day was probably hanging out with everyone at the house, telling jokes and stories. The best was when Jess told a joke...about Coach...while Coach was standing right there... We're having so much fun and I feel so lucky to get to be doing this with friends I love, playing the game I love.
Day One - Thursday, August 6(Morning session and travel day to California)
Ashley Gross - Today was an adventure! We started out by having a short morning session before heading to the airport. Over the course of eight hours we traveled from Richmond to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Los Angeles. Darian's parents welcomed us into their home with open arms and food as soon as we arrived and we couldn't have asked for better hosts! It is so nice to have the comfort of a home to stay in while away from campus.
We ended our night with a walk, stretch and foam roll to prepare for our early training session. I'm so excited to finally be here after this long day! I think that our freshmen class really lucked out by starting our time at UR with this cross-country trip! Traveling with the team has been so fun and I cannot wait to really get started with our early training in the morning!
Hannah Holub - Day Three started out like any other day of preseason. We were out on the field early for training - a little technical assessment and shooting, but as soon as we finished our practice, you could tell something was different. We rushed back to our dorms to make sure everything was ready for our trip to California. Some of us faced more problems than others, but despite missing IDs and dead car batteries we made it to the airport with plenty of time.
Our flights passed without any trouble. We all found different ways to entertain ourselves. When I looked around on hour two of five on our flight to LAX, you could see a lot of books and one card game. And with five hours to burn, everyone took at least one nap. Mel and I tried to complete a "The Week" crossword and even got the coaches involved. All in all, it was an easy trip and a great bonding session. Nothing like packing 30 girls like sardines to help us get to know each other better.
We finished off the day at the Podmajersky's house. Mr. and Mrs. Podmajersky were incredibly welcoming. Housing thirty girls is no easy task and we are extremely grateful for them letting us into their home.
By 10 (1 am ET) we were almost all asleep, ready and excited for the days to follow.
Emily Drummond - Today is the first time I've ever traveled on a plane with the soccer team. We're blessed that we didn't get stopped by security for having half-used water bottles carelessly tossed in our carry ons. Hopefully, we have the same luck on our returning flights home. The flights passed quickly but I'm convinced our connecting flight in Atlanta was stuck by lightning midair. Others on the team disagree claiming the lightning was simply very close to the aircraft but hey, agree to disagree. After arriving in California we took a bus ride to Darian's house which is absolutely stunning. The view is like the one from the movie "Burlesque." The best part of the Podmajersky residence is her dog Coco. She the unofficial team mascot on the West Coast.
The Day Before - Wednesday, August 5
(First day of training and the day before the flight to California)
Ashley Riefner - Alarm was set for 6:30 a.m.m but I knew all too well that I wouldn't be needing my alarm to wake me up on this special morning. While I did wake up in a familiar place, my mind and body experienced a different kind of feeling that only happens once a year. Preseason. Excitement only grew as each item of Spider Soccer gear was out, once the field was in sight I knew it was time for business. Being back with my teammates is a feeling that can't really be described; I'd say it's a privilege and a pretty awesome one at that. Even after fitness testing and a tiring 8-v-8 scrimmage, I can honestly say that it's a great time to be a Richmond Spider, especially a women's soccer Richmond Spider.
This year's preseason will be one for the books. Not only will we be training in a beautiful setting but we all get the chance to get closer as a team. I really believe that this California trip will help our team get to the next level.
Hunter Rooney - We are all very excited to begin our adventure in California tomorrow! We started of the day with breakfast at the dining hall, and then had our first practice which consisted of fitness testing and small sided games. We were all extremely relieved to get the much dreaded "beep test" out of the way, as it had been hanging over our heads the entire summer. After practice, we all had lunch together at the dining hall, and enjoyed a much needed afternoon nap. Our afternoon session consisted of some technical work and then 11-v-11. We all were really happy to finally get to play 11-v-11 with our entire team, and get to see the new players on a bigger field. After the afternoon session, we all took frigid ice baths. I think most of us forgot how cold they actually were, but our legs will definitely be thanking us tomorrow! In the evening, we all packed, did some laundry and eagerly went to bed knowing that the next day we would be going to California!!
Darian Podmajersky - Today was a great first day of preseason. We got through the beep test in the morning and a scrimmage in the evening. It was an eventful and tiring day. Once we finished the intense practices, the realization that we were leaving for our trip hit me. I am so excited to get back to my hometown with an entire team of people who have become my family. To bring my actual family and my team family all in one place together will be an experience I will never forget.
I've always dreamed of playing college soccer and getting to do it in my hometown will be the icing on the cake. I grew up watching UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton compete and getting to play in their stadiums will be very surreal for me. Less than 24 hours until that experience starts and I can't wait!
And not to mention the 30-girl sleepover in my house…that is going to be one of the best memories!
